Reflection
by MzShellSan
Summary: Law reflects on their win against Doflamingo and how he'd planned to die on that island. TW: Suicide mentions. Very canon divergent because I wanted it to be. Day 5 of my FicMas event, dedicated to LoJo.


**25 Days of FicMas**

**Day: **Five

**Dedication: **lojo

**Fandom: **One Piece

**Pairing: **None, Law-centric

**Disclaimer: **I do not own One Piece

**Reflection**

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Law groaned as he watched the strawhats race around the Thousand Sunny, Usopp screaming about 'cheating' after Luffy when he rockets himself to the other side of the ship to avoid being caught in their game of tag.

Despite the noise, he couldn't help but think it would be much more odd if the ship were silent right now. It had only been a week since they had left Dressrosa and he had to admit that it had become almost... _nice _to have their noise constantly in the background_._

At first it was frustrating. No matter how hard he'd tried to find somewhere quiet for just a moment, someone had always been there to bother him; trying to chat with him at each and every turn. It was almost like they were determined to stop him from having any time to purely himself.

But now it was just a part of everyday life. If nothing else, he supposed that it kept him from being bored enough for his mind to think too heavily over the events of Dressrosa.

Of course now that he was admitting this to himself, he can't help but reflect on it; the memories through his mind of Dressrosa, of Luffy nearly dying for the sake of his vengeance, of how the boy had refused to leave him even after he'd tried to break off their alliance.

He could still feel the hopeless frustration that had burned through his body at watching the strawhats fight for _his_ sake without asking anything in return.

Truly they were something else.

He watched as Luffy shot himself across the ship again and went too far; the tell-tale splash of water and shouting from Chopper who was freaking out about Luffy dying, only to stop when, a moment later the cook dived in after Luffy, cursing his captain out and dragging the rubber boy from the ocean roughly.

It was ridiculous to think that someone like _that_ could have brought down Doflamingo. Even being there Law could still hardly believe it.

But none of his crew seemed shocked – as self assured of their captain as they always had been.

In the back of his mind Law wondered how Luffy dealt with that. He'd seen the rubber boy at his worst; suffering from the loss of his last remaining family member and lost within his own mind. He'd watched and empathised, all to aware of how that felt.

Even now, the loss of Cora-san weighted heavily over him and that was a significant number of years later.

Yet Luffy could stand there and laugh. He could act so open and care-free even though it had only been a couple of short years.

Truly, he wanted to know how the younger did it.

The thought of going through even more days, of continuing on without Cora-san now that his revenge was complete, well, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Certainly not like Luffy seemed to be able to.

There was still the voice in the back of his mind telling him that he should be dead – that he should have stayed on that island and perished. What did he have left to live for after all?

And he'd thought about it.

In the few moments that he'd had where silence had only been interrupted and the sound of water lapping at his ship he had considered throwing himself into the ocean and letting the sea wash away his sins; freeing him of the burden of a life without Cora-san.

But in those moments Luffy always seemed to appear. He never asked why Luffy wasn't asleep – the tint of darkness in the younger's eyes and the memories of burning flesh all to clear in his mind even now.

And they would talk.

Luffy would ask about his crew – especially about Bepo – always enthusiastic. The darkness would fade from his mind just a little and the memories of his crew would dull his plans of death.

Now that he was considering it, Law wondering just how deliberate those conversations had been. He wondered if maybe, Luffy had sensed his dark thoughts and purposefully spoken with him about things that Law still cared about (for all his attempts not to).

Luffy's laughter cut through his thoughts, bright and cheerful and much closer than he thought it should be.

Opening his eyes once (when had he shut them?) Law raised an eyebrow at the grinning captain.

"What?"

His tone had been unnecessarily rude but Luffy just chuckled again. His foot nudged Law's gently. "Tag, Torao's it," he cheered before backing away from him and running over to Usopp who seemed both terrified and curious as to whether or not he'd play.

He considered just telling Luffy to fuck off but decided against it a small smirk spreading over his lips. With a flick of the wrist, he switched himself with Usopp and tapped Luffy on the shoulder just as lightly.

"Am I?"

Luffy's eyes widened slightly and he celebrated getting one over the unpredictable boy before quickly switching himself with Usopp once more to avoid being caught again.

After all, if all his saviour wanted in return for his help was a round of tag and to listen to Law ramble about his crew – who was he to deny him?


End file.
